The Association between Oral Contraceptive Use and Subgingival Occurrence of Periopathogen Bacteria

Oral contraceptive pills are one of the most widely used methods in the field of population control, and this method is safe, effective and available. On the other hand, oral hormonal contraceptive use in reproductive ages is considered as a risk factor for periodontal disease. We decided to investigate the effect of this product on the amount and type of subgingival bacteria. This case-control study was conducted on 44 women who were 15-35 years old using oral contraceptive pills and 44 women at this range who didn’t consume such pills. First, subgingival sampling was conducted from the deepest pocket in each quadrant. Then samples were transferred to a solid medium for detection of anaerobics including Actionbacillus actinomycetemcomitans (A.a), Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g) and Prevotella intermedia (P.i) using morphological test and biochemical characteristics. Finally, the data were collected and subjected to independent t-test. The data showed that in subjects who used contraceptive pills, A.a, P.g and P.i decreased significantly as compared to subjects who did not use contraceptives and had the same level of oral hygiene (P<0.001, P<0.001 and P=0.03 respectively). The present study showed that women who consume contraceptive drugs, average number of anaerobic colonies, A.a, P.g and P.i increased significantly.